Capodastro for guitars



(No Model.)

J. 'M.'ALLEN. GAPODASTRO FOR GUITARS.

No. 339,513. Patented Apr. 6, 1886.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES M. ALLEN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

CAPODASTRO FOR GUITARS.

'JJEZIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 339,513, dated April6, 1886.

Application filed September 17, 1885.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be itknown that I, JAMES M. ALLEN, of St. Louis, h'lissouri, have made anew and useful Improvement in Oapodastros for Guitars, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

My improved capodastro can be more readi- 1y adjusted than those now inuse, and is less apt to mar the guitarneck. It consists, substantially,in a clamp which encircles the guitar-neek and strings, and whose frontpart is adapted to bear upon the strings by means of a spring which isattached to the rear part of the clamp and carries a presser-plate,which, by reason of the action of the spring, presses, when free,againstthe back of the guitar-neck, and thereby serves to draw the front partof the clamp against the strings and produce the desired result. Toshift the clamp upon the guitar-neck it is only necessary, by hearingagainst the back of the clamp, to compress the spring sufficiently tolift the front part of the clamp from off the strings, whereupon theclamp can be slipped easily upward and downward upon the guitar-neck, asdesired.

The annexed drawings, making part of this specification, exhibit aportion of a guitar neck with the improvement in position.

Figure 1 is a side elevation. Fig. 2 is a front elevation, and Fig. 3 isa cross-section.

The same letters of reference denote the same parts.

A represents the guitar-neck, and B B B- represent the guitar-strings,all constructed and arranged in the usual manner.

The capodastro consists of the clamp C, the spring D, and the presserplate E. The clamp in its general outline conforms to that of theguitar-neek, but is sufficiently large to admit of the spring andpresser-plate being inserted between the back part, c, of the clamp andthe back (a of the guitar-neck, substantially as shown.

The spring at one end, (Z, is attached to the clamp, and at the other orfree end, (1, is

Serial No. 177,378. (No model.)

constructed to form,or is furnished with,what may be termed apresser-plate, E, and all the parts are relatively so constructed as tocause the spring, when free to act, to open, and thereby press thepresser-p1ate against the back of the guitar-neck, and in consequence toforce the back part, c, of the clamp backward from the guitar-neck, andthereby draw the front part, 0, of the clamp against the strings B B andclamp them upon the guitarneck front, a". The presser-plate is suitablyfaced, as with a piece of soft leather, 0, to enable the presser-plateto he slipped along the guitar-neck without marring it.

The front part, c, of the clamp is in practice a straight bar, and, toenable the capodastro to be removed from the guitar-neck, the bar a at 0is hinged to the part c, and the free end of the bar 0 can be fastenedby means of the loop a, substantially as shown. The dotted lines in Fig.3 indicate the position of the bar 0 when unfastened.

Various forms of springs can be used to shift the clamp transversely, asdescribed, upon the guitar-neck.

The clamp O can also be constructed in various ways for the purpose ofrendering the eapodastro removable from the guitar -neel and hence inthis respect I desire not to be limited to hinging the parts 0 and 0together, as these parts can otherwise be made to open apart.

I claim-- 1. The herein-described capodastro, consisting of the clamp,the spring, and the presseeplate, the parts of said clamp being made toopen apart, as described.

2. The combination of the clamp 0, having the bar a hinged to open fromthe part c, the spring D,and the presser-plate E, as described.

itness my hand.

JAMES M. ALLEN.

\Vi tn esses C. D. Moonv, J. XV. Hours.

